Originally Posted by
PlanoFuji
Part of the economics is that not everyone has multiple bikes (especially multiple bikes that need lights). Also, the dyno setup requires no additional consumables for its entire lifespan. The same can not be said for battery lights. Granted rechargeables can last for a while, but require replacement every year or two
No, not everyone has multiple bikes. But some of us, myself included, do. Having 7 dyno setups at $200 per set up would be prohibitively expensive. At roughly $25 per light unit, having one dyno set up at $200 per set up is prohibitively expensive.
Rechargeable batteries would have to be very poorly treated to last only a year or 2. Three to 7 would be a more likely lifespan and, with the rapid changes in technology, that's going to be 2 to 5 generations of lighting. The LED lights I toyed with...the operative word being toy...7 years ago pale in comparison to the lights today on cost, output and run time. Also, at $11 per pack, replacing them each year is hardly going to break the bank. To put it in perspective, if I had a single $20 light, I could replace the battery every year for 17 years before reaching the cost of a dynamo light system. I can't say for certain but I suspect that parts of any dynamo system would need replacement sometime in 17 years.
Originally Posted by
PlanoFuji
This is a very debatable proposition. Brightly lit city streets do not require more light from the bike than unlit streets. The idea is to be able to see the street surface, and if the surface is already lit it doesn't require additional illumination. In other words if you turn your light on during the day, do you believe it improves your ability to see the road?
For the purposes of being seen, additional brightness is of questionable utility. Even lights too dim to see by are perfectly acceptable to be seen. But even more importantly, dyno lights frequently incorporate actual reflectors (something all too often removed from bikes) which put the power of the drivers light source (or the sun during the day) to best use for the cyclist...
Go for a ride on an unlit road way some time. You need hardly any light to see with and you need even less to be seen by. I will agree that in an urban environment, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of light sources within 500 feet of you at any given time. There is an ocean of light sources. A single low output...even 500 lumens is a low output...light has to compete with all those light sources. "Be seen" lights aren't. They don't illuminate your path and they are far too dim to be seen against hundreds of lights that are throwing out several times what the "be seen" light is giving off. Out in the middle of no where, that "be seen" light can be seen from miles away. In the city, not so much.
And I'm not sure what you are saying about "reflectors which put the power of the driver's light source..." I've never of an automobile's light doing me much good. If they are following behind me, they tend to mask a weak light (several very bright ones are a different story) and if they are coming at me, they are too far away to do me much good. In either case, the amount of light my light is putting out and the shape of the beam have nothing to do with the car's lights.
Finally, with the exception of stargazing, when was the last time you heard anyone say that they needed
less light for a night time activity? More light doesn't hurt anything and, in my experience, helps a whole lot.